Fidget spinners pulled from Target after concerns over high lead counts

A watchdog organization, U.S. Public Interest Research Group, says the spinners have high levels of lead.

U.S. PIRG, a public advocacy group, released a report on Thursday detailing the amount of lead in the toys and demanding Target and Bulls i Toy remove the products and issue a public statement on the alleged high levels of lead in the toys.

For the "Fidget Wild Premium Spinner Brass", the center circle tested for 33,000 ppm of lead, and the arm tested for 22,000 ppm of lead. The brass spinner in question tested at more than 300 times acceptable lead levels for children's products. On Target's website, the "Fidget Wild Premium Spinner Bass" is recommended for ages 14 and over, as well as, 6 and over.

The toy remains on Target shelves, as the companies defend their product with the Consumer Product Safety Commission's declaration that fidget spinners are not technically "children's products" subject to legal limits for lead.

MASSPIRG said they alerted the toy's distributor, Bulls i Toy, and Target to the findings, but they "refused to address the problem".

Following the US PIRG report yesterday, CPSC Commissioner Elliot Kaye, who was chairman of the government watchdog until earlier this year, noted over Twitter: "Seems obvious fidget spinners are toys and should comply with all applicable federal safety standards".

Timothy Nolan, president of the company that supplies these fidget spinners, Bulls-I Toy, wrote in response to the report that the fidget spinners in question are "general use products" and therefore "are not in violation of any mandated federal regulations".

Warn children of all ages not to put fidget spinners or small pieces in their mouths and not to play with the fidget spinner near their faces.

"While these two products comply with all CPSC guidelines for fidget spinners, based on the concerns raised, we're removing them from our assortment", the spokeswoman said in a statement.

However, Cook-Shultz responded that fidget spinners are sold to children as toys in the same aisles as other products marketed as toys.

Fidget Spinners are the latest craze among kids, but certain ones may expose them to unsafe amounts of lead.

Interim CPSC Chairwoman Anne Marie Buerkle also warned that light-up spinners contain lithium coin batteries that can cause severe internal burns, if swallowed, and have been the source of fire warnings.

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